Corby's mayor hangs onto his chains as annual meeting cancelled

Corby’s mayor will have some extra time in the chains as the annual council meeting has been delayed.

Corby Council has decided to postpone its mayor making and annual council meeting originally due to take place this Thursday (May 20) because it says ‘it was deemed appropriate under the current circumstances’ and instead it will take place at an unspecified date later in the year.

The Labour-run authority has not held a public meeting since the start of the lockdown back in March and is the only one of the eight councils in Northamptonshire to have not published a future schedule yet.

New temporary legislation allows local authorities to host their meetings virtually but Corby Council is lagging behind a number of local parish councils who have got to grips with Zoom technology to make sure their decisions are transparent.

Cllr Ray Beeby will now hang onto his chains for a few more months, although with most public functions and events cancelled due to the lockdown his mayoral duties have been sparse.

This is most likely the last year of the council’s existence, as along with the Northamptonshire other local authorities it is due to be replaced with a unitary authority in April next year. However due to the coronavirus pandemic a decision could be made in coming months to ask central government to delay unitary once more, if it is not thought the new services can be set up safely and legally.

A spokesman for Corby Council said: “The council is currently looking to commence holding committee meetings before the end of May. Meetings will only be called where there is an essential business need or legal obligation to do so.

“Until further notice all meetings will be held virtually, as allowed by emergency legislation, and those open to the public will be streamed live.”